Our last Kick-About explored the intricate, microscopic worlds of foraminifera—minute shells shaped by time and tide. This week, we shift our focus to the bold, painted gaze of Alexei von Jawlensky’s Girl with the Green Face. In this expressionist portrait, colour and form speak as pointedly as the girl’s expression. Enjoy these new works made in a short time—and for all previous editions of The Kick-About, go here.
Graeme Daly
“I know the subject matter is not reminiscent of Alexei Von Jawlensky but I loved the use of such vivid colours in his subjects and wanted to do something hands-on. I have had a hankering to explore queer themes lately and to use up the many canvases I have lying around so these paintings are primarily done with oil pastels and colouring pencils..”
@graemedalyart / vimeo.com/graemedaly / linkedin.com/in/graeme-daly / twitter.com/Graeme_Daly / gentlegiant.ie
Gary Thorne
“With the arrival of a hedge trimmer battery charger, came packaging which stared me in the face so with a little low tech enhancement it shifted slightly towards Jawlensky, although I doubt he’d be terribly impressed.”
Vanessa Clegg
“I based these on Shakespeare’s mention of ‘the green sickness’ of jealousy and envy, wanting the inward gaze of the charcoal drawing and more of a storyboard with the monoprints. An interesting subject to tackle.”
vanessaclegg.co.uk / vanillaclegg
Ashley
“I knew nothing about Alexej von Jawlensky, and again I needed to explore. The K-A is actually titled “The girl with the green face” and that painting is amazing. When reading some background to the artist, some particular things jumped off the page, notably reference to a series of paintings known as “Mystical Heads”. The artist also produced others titled “Abstract Heads” and “Constructivist Heads”. These works pointed the way for the artwork that I have produced. On standing back and looking over my artwork, I had the feeling that I was back in the 1960’s!”
Kerfe Roig
“As you may remember I used a Jawlensky painting for my KA self-portrait painting. I had also started working on another one based on his ‘Mystical Head’ to continue the series. So of course I had to do one based on “Girl with a Green Face”. I didn’t paint it, I used neocolors blended with some water, but I think it works well to get the same effect.”
kblog.blog / methodtwomadness.wordpress.com
James Randall
“I used Alexei’s bright colour palette as a starting point for this one and drew a landscape from a Canadian road trip way back – driving through the canola fields the colours were really intense.”
Phil Gomm
“I was very taken by the inner-life of this girl with the green face. She is giving someone, or something, some serious ‘side-eye’, and I was interested in finding out more about her. The resulting short story, Marguerite, is about 80% finished, so I am sharing an excerpt. I don’t want to say too much about how events play out, but suffice to say there is a mystery here and, in spite of the literary trappings, this is no fairy tale.”
You can read the excerpt here
philgomm.com / behance.net/Phil_Gomm
And from Jawlensky’s green-faced girl, to a more monochrome prompt…
Red's Kingdom 
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